Pitch Black

Having just got the WRX back after 18 weeks off the road due to a bump, I'm already recalling the plans I had in mind all that time ago!

The car is a MY95 imported WRX dynoing at 257 bhp(on Optimax). The torque figures came in at around 252 lb/ft, which I'm not sure were correct! Performance mods to date comprise of;

HKS Hyper Mufler Full Exhaust
HKS Down Pipe (ie cat removed)
Blitz Induction
17" P1 wheels
AP Racing 330mm, 6 pot brake kit with Pagid Pads
AP Racing Clutch
BPM Lightened & Balanced Flywheel

Suspension will be developed in due turn but currently I'm looking primerily for more Torque (and subsequently more BHP).

After reading a few articles and looking at numerous web sites I decided that the ECU upgrade offered by Power Engineering seemed to offer what I was looking for. One phone call later and these plans were in tatters, as PE informed me that they no longer recommended this upgrade for early imported cars! B*ll**c*s.

Now I'm back to square one!

I'm hoping you all can steer me in another direction through either your knowledge or experience in regards choosing a peice of kit that will provide my car with more torque, bhp etc.

Does anyone have anything good / bad to say about;

APEXi AVC-R Boost controller ?
APEXi S-AFC Fuel controller ?
Blitz, HKS equivalents of the above ?
APEXi Power FC ?
Replacement ECUs' ?
Dawes ?

Thanks for your patience so far. If I don't reply quickly its because I'm not on the computer that often so please don't think I'm not interested.

Paul.

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Hmmm, i think your after a good shot of power over 300bhp?
I personally would get an ECU like a GEMS if your thinking of going this route, they are quite expensive but you can have 2 maps on them
Also i would think about going for a FMIC kit over the TMIC your car runs now, that plus a different turbo should do you for starters, then your going to need to look at the gearbox and replacement gears which are somewhat more robust, then possably an engine rebuild.... the list is a bit endless, but its all dependant on budget, i suspect that you would need to chat to Harvey if you want big power on a decent budget as Harvey built the house before putting the roof on (ie strenghtened the engine and attached parts first).

Tony

Pitch Black

300+ bhp would be nice one day!

At the moment I'm hoping I can get the car upto basic STi performance levels (ie 280bhp)without having to change too many other mechanical parts (except maybe the fuel pump!). As I use the car for work (50-60k pa) I am uprating the mechanics as I need them, hence the AP Clutch & BMP Flywheel. With nearly 90,000 miles on the clock already I am expecting the not to iminent failure of gear box components, turbo etc. These I will uprate as required.

Therefore whatever set up I go for now will need to be fully remappable as and when other items are added to the setup of the car.

How much, roughly, is the GEMS ECU and who do you know that installs them proficiently? I presume they are fully programable?

As I don't post here that often I must apologise because I don't know who Harvey is!

Paul

care3

http://www.scoobyecu.co.uk/
scott t and d.wallis are the boys to talk to

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

A different turbo............ nooooooooooooooo!!!! The TD05 you have is a very capable turbo and can easily cope with 350bhp.

The ECU i'd agree with.. Gems, Motec, Link etc. Your looking at £700 upwards (plus the cost of mapping if your not doing it yourself). Or you could get the standard ecu remapped... see the scoobyecu guys for guidance on this (David Wallis recorded around 350bhp using this route....).

Tony.

Pitch Black

I've just read the installation instructions for the Scoobyecu system! I am right in my understanding that it comes with a map already set up and you just plug it straight on to the standard ecu ?

I thought each car had to be set up individually depending on the specification of the mods carried out to date ? I could do with some re-assurance from anyone running this system!

Does anyone have the web site address for the GEMS or Motec ecu?

Paul

M0NEY

Sounds like you are ready to spend big bucks. Ive got a MY95 import to and have a Blitz Nur Spec R backbox and middle, scoobycport downpipe, Blitz induction kit and it got 291 bhp saturday on the rollers.

300, seems very likely now

Have you found out any info on the boost controllers. The HKS one is meant to be pretty good

Pitch Black

Money

Mine is only a WRX, to get those sort of figures you must have started with an STi?

I got mine on the rollers at Prosport which seems to give realistic results, i.e. 260bhp on Jap fuel (100 ron) for a MY95, so Pete was expecting around 250bhp on Optimax. The mods therefore only gave me 7bhp but the torque increased by a substantial amount.

Paul

M0NEY

Mate, mine is a wrx as well!

Wibles is a wrx and with his Revolution system he got 297! He also has a P1 intercooler and K&N as i said but still, thats 297!!!

M0NEY

Also, you say standard boost at 11-12 psi it wouldnt get over 290. I dont know how much boost was going through mune but on wibles, it was 15 psi i think. Maybe thats why it was hitting 297

Well i dont know why mine reached 291 then. Maybe it was something AnG Services did to it but i dont care, im happy! lol

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

What fuel was it run on? The car is 260Ps (NOT bhp) as standard on jap fuel.... using our fuel i'd expect about 250bhp. What boost was it running? As i said before it can't be standard as the turbo will basically not flow enough air to achieve this (unless im ready the graph wrong ). I'd also be very surprised if just a full exhaust could give 30bhp...... Also what AFRs was it producing... the standard injectors are only good for about 300bhp (safely) without upping the fuel pressure.... do you have a knocklink?

If that is a realiable result then you've got one hell of a good engine there.... enjoy it. I would .

Tony.

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

Just seen your other post..... I'd certainly agree that by increasing the boost that 300bhp is well within reach. The 15psi would explain the power (with the better intercooler too).

At Well Lane mine nearly hit 290bhp but the boost seemed to be down slightly (from the 16.5psi it was mapped too). If the boost has been increased on your car too then your figure is within reason..... bet if feels nice on the road. What torque were you guys getting?

Tony.

M0NEY

Well im well lost mate! Im new to this so half that stuff just loses me! lol

Torque is only 243. The other guys who had 292 and 297 had around 254 torque. However, the guy who had 292 had his ecu chipped in Japan we think and thats why he is running better torque.

Does everyone change the injectors for over 300 then? I thought they were ok on the Jap cars for up to about 350. Probably wrong though!

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

The later jap cars (and UK) had 440cc injectors and not the 380cc we have. I'be be fairly cautious to run 350bhp on even 440s but would feel good with 550s.

Regarding the torque.... that is low for the power level. As a comparison the average torque when i got 272bhp was just over 250lb/ft. For the first run of just under 290bhp i'd expect about 270lb/ft. I'd be a little bit pee'd if i got only 240ilb/ft with 290bhp. Do you have a print out of the graphs. They (power and torqu) should cross over at 5252 (or is that 5225????) rpm.... what did they get here?

If you want over 350bhp on an early car i'd say it would need 550cc injectors, FMIC and the ecu remapped (replaced). You'd also need if you haven't already got some bigger brakes, better suspension and a clutch to cope with that sort of power/torque. Apart from that dead easy .

Tony.

M0NEY

Bigger brakes and supension already done!

looking at the graph, the torque and power only corss at about 4000 rpm. Maybe 4100! Thats why i wanted to increase the torque. I thought this was very low but it seemed to be the same on my other 2 mates scoobies!

The ecu hasnt been touched. Do you reckon if i remap it or replace it, this will get the torque sorted?

M0NEY

Tony, sent you an email mate

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

Money.... i'd check your graph. There is no ifs or buts about it... the graph HAS to cross at 5252 rpm. If they don't something is not right and you may as well put the graph in the bin. Unless of course your car can get round the laws of physics .

Not got your e-mail yet... try my works one anthony.tonkin@austin.co.uk .

Regarding the apexi units.... together for the fuel and boost your looking at over £700. For that you could have a Link ecu or the scoobyecu and a whole load of money in your back pocket! Personally i hate piggy back addons to the standard ecu. Why bother when you can get the standard ecu to do what they do only better .

Tony.

M0NEY

Sent you an email now mate. Spoke to IM and they said the graph was right but i need more torque!

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

Money... which rolling round did these figures come from. Personally i'd be a bit surprised that you could get over 290bhp from just an exhaust and filter given that the car should have just under 260bhp as standard using 100-102 octane fuel. If you look at the specs for the TD05 turbo i think that at standard boost (11-12psi) there is now way that it could flow enough air to get over 290bhp.....

I have a early WRX and I got about 285bhp on one of my runs at well lane last sunday (this was then averaged to 272bhp after 4 runs due to the lack of air flow to my TMIC ). This is running a scooby ecu at 16.5 psi with full decat and induction (up from 250bhp without the ecu) and optimax and NF.

Paul... i'd say that the rollers at Prosport are a bit more realistic. I'd use this as a base so that any improvements can be compared to this... If i was you i'd look at the scoobyecu.... for £60 it's very good value for money. The map isn't completely taylor to your car but it WILL be far better than the current map. Plus you can alwasy alter the map yourself... just need an eprom programmer for around £50. You must be confident you know what your doing tho .

Tony.

[Edited by Tone Loc - 2/3/2003 1:20:16 PM]

M0NEY

It was at Tuning Japanese on Saturday. Most of the other guys got what they normally get so the rolling road seemed sensible.

Wible got 297 with the mods i mentioned above.

I know AnG Service were playing about with the engine but i didnt think they really did anything

Edited to say the exhaust is a full decat. If it was 260 standard, then apparently the Blitz backbow and centre should give about another 20bhp they sat, and the Scoobysport downpipe with no car must be about 10. That means my Blitz induction kit is that 1bhp! lol

We had 2 runs and mine was 290.5 and 291

[Edited by M0NEY - 2/3/2003 1:40:01 PM]

Pitch Black

D'ya know, I'm away for a while

Going on what's been discussed todate I think I may be gearing for the 'Scoobyecu'. It seems to be relativly inexpensive compared to the other options and hopefully should give me the levels of performance I'm looking for (for now that is ) What I really need is to try and get to one of the 'meets' I see talked about on here and hopefully see for myself what sort of goodies are out there and being utilized.

Veering off again, has anyone any experience of the APEXi AVC-R & the APEXi S-AFC controllers ? I ask because a collegue of mine has them in his Celica GT4 and the performance levels are very impressive for a car nearly 10years old (he does have other mods as well of course). What are they like on the Impreza ?

Paul

[Edited by Pitch Black - 2/3/2003 8:01:31 PM]

Pitch Black

Thought I'd resurect this topic again as I've secured funds of around £1500 do do the necessary. The previous posts seemed to be going off at a tangent so I let the post slide!

Anyway does any one have any pros & cons of both the Link system and the Gems system, and any ideas as to who can install them.

Cheers

Paul